


Reach a Little Higher

by simplesetgo



Category: Legend of the Seeker
Genre: F/F, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-05
Updated: 2011-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-19 02:52:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/196054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplesetgo/pseuds/simplesetgo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Cara grows a pair of wings and is suitably distressed about it. Zedd is concerned, Richard is confused, and Kahlan is enthralled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reach a Little Higher

**Author's Note:**

> _I'm falling down  
>  Falling through oceans of clouds  
> Only fallen angels sing this loud_  
> —Hybrid

“It’s nothing,” Cara told the Wizard. She carelessly shrugged off the top half of her leathers in the clearing, pushing them down to her waist. Richard coughed, Kahlan blushed, and they both looked away. “Just a rash. I can handle pain, but this thing is itching like a snake vine.”

Zedd passed careful fingers around the twin stripes of irritated redness on her back. Mirror images of each other, they traced a curved path from her shoulder blades halfway down her back. “A very unlikely rash,” he mused aloud. His brow pinched as his steady palms hovered over her skin. “I sense no magic. Whatever did this to you, Cara, I’m afraid it’s going to run its course. I can make you an ointment for the itching.”

Cara grunted her approval.

****

Several days later, the itching changed to pain. She told no one, of course, because she could handle pain just fine. Even when it felt like the skin on her back was stretching, like her bones were bending and shifting every time she moved. Whatever this was, it would pass.

****

It happened in the middle of a fight. A rather good one, at that. Cara’s blood was singing in her veins as she slew one baneling after the other, her Agiels cracking against temples and sinking into chests. The Mother Confessor whirled beside her, dark dress flying, as beautiful in battle as she was everywhere else. Richard shouted as his blade cleaved flesh, and a loud rush of hot flame behind them let them know Zedd was watching their backs.

Then Cara found herself on her knees, paralyzed by a very strange sort of searing pain, like her back had just splintered apart. Two leering banelings charged her, crude weapons raised. Kahlan quickly came to her rescue—she would hear no end of that, later—and the battle was over shortly, the last body hitting the ground with an audible thud.

Cara gritted her teeth as she climbed back to her feet, gently rolling her shoulders. There was a strange pressure there against her leathers, right where her three companions were staring.

“You’ve got a hump on your back,” offered Richard, lifting his sword in indication. “Is it broken?”

Kahlan stepped forward, concern wrinkling her dirtied brow. “If it was broken she wouldn’t be standing,” she pointed out. “Cara, turn around?”

Once leather was delicately peeled from sticky skin, it was a moment before a collective gasp issued from behind her. “Oh, Cara,” murmured Kahlan.

“Those are…” Richard began.

“…wings,” finished Zedd.

Cara whirled on them, anger flashing in her eyes at their joke. “Don’t be absurd. Wizard, what’s really wrong with me?”

****

They were growing very quickly, much to Cara’s dismay. She kept them tucked inside her leathers as long as she could, hoping they would somehow fall off and her life would go back to being painfully comfortable—and comfortably painful. But it was getting impossible to hide them, especially once the soft feathers began to thicken.

No one knew what was happening to her, not even Zedd. He left for the Wizard’s Keep in Aydindril in search of answers for her. She denied his request to accompany him because leaving Richard and Kahlan alone for any length of time was clearly the epitome of foolishness. Cara figured three nights, at most, before they’d come back to a confessed Seeker of Truth, a Mother Confessor in copious tears, and a Confessor baby on the way to round everything off.

Shortly after Zedd left, she enlisted Kahlan’s assistance to mark and slice open her leathers over the shoulder blades. Adjustments made, Kahlan helped her back into her Mord-Sith armor, then stood back, head tilted a little. Cara resisted the urge to squirm under the inspection. It did feel much better, having her wings free; she flexed them experimentally and shuddered at the strangeness. They didn’t come quite to her elbows when she spread them wide, but they were still getting bigger by the day.

“Do you want a cloak?” asked Kahlan.

“You think I’m ashamed.”

“I think you might want a cloak. When you…fold them up, it wouldn’t look bad.”

Cara sighed, and nodded.

****

“That’s just it,” Richard argued, setting his cup down on the broad table. “We don’t know what caused it! Nothing makes sense.”

The busy inn fairly hummed around them, and Kahlan took small pleasure in the fact that no one was throwing sidelong glances at Cara. It looked like she was simply wearing a sizable pack under her black cloak. “There’s no point in trying anything until Zedd gets back,” Kahlan reasoned. “I don’t want to take any risks we don’t have to.”

“What about what I want?” asked Cara gruffly. “I’m the one with the problem.”

They both looked to her, and waited.

“What do you want?” Kahlan pressed, gently.

“I want them gone. I’m a Mord-Sith, not a bird. Mord-Sith don’t have wings. Mord-Sith don’t need wings.”

Richard nodded, clearly following her logic, but Kahlan shook her head. “I wouldn’t be so quick with that decision. This could be a good thing. Maybe it’s a gift.”

“How in the New World or Old could anyone consider this a gift?” snapped Cara.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kahlan replied.

Richard sat back, brooding, eyes passing between them both.

****

“Wait,” whispered Kahlan. “Can I…see them?”

Cara turned away from the lamp, setting her gaze on the Confessor sitting up in the bed, sheets up to her shoulders. “Why?”

“I want to see if they’re fully grown.”

“They are. At least, I hope they are.” Cara glanced down. The tips of her wings were nearly touching the floor behind her feet; if they grew any more she’d be hard pressed to hide them in any way. They’d outgrown her arm span and half as much again in the last few days.

Kahlan looked at her, not with naked curiosity, or pity, or detached interest. No—it was something close to envy. Cara undid the clasp at her neck. The cloak fell and with a loud rustle her wings unfurled, nearly stretching wall-to-wall in the small room. She found herself taking a deep breath in relief at being able to stretch them.

Kahlan gasped—a small, soft sound, but she covered her mouth anyway. “They’re beautiful,” she murmured through her fingers. “Cara, they’re beautiful.”

Cara looked curiously to her own sides. They were normal enough wings, she thought—brilliant white lead feathers, softer and darker ones inward, and a joint halfway down their considerable length. She shrugged, her hands forming fists at her sides, and her wings fluttered a bit, betraying her awkwardness. The lamp flickered and guttered at the movement, dancing shadows across the room.

“You really don’t want them?”

Cara thought for a moment. “I’d give them to you if I could.”

Kahlan bit her lip, just a little. “You’ve never dreamt of flying?” she asked softly. “Or wanted to, at all?”

Cara thought some more. “No.”

****

Kahlan first noticed in the middle of a fight. Bad luck placed them squarely in the path of two quads—eight well-trained D’Haran soldiers versus the three of them. Not terrible odds, but poor enough that she couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

The melee had barely begun, clashing steel and desperate shouts ringing across the early morning forest, when Kahlan heard it behind her. The thunderous beating of great wings. She turned, and Cara made such a powerful sight she found herself stricken. The Mord-Sith stood tall over her freshly fallen foe, wings stirring the air around her like she was trying to take flight. There was a quality about her; something Kahlan had never noticed before. It sent her heart straight to her throat.

Then Cara’s eyes snapped to hers and flew wide. “Kahlan!”

A warning, and by the panic in Cara’s voice one likely too late. She winced as the whistle of a blade reached her ears, but a sharp clang followed—very close. Richard. Time began flowing normally once again, and Kahlan quickly picked back up where she’d left off. Her own blades sang and streamed blood as the battle raged short and hot, but through it all she found herself stealing glances.

****

“Nothing,” repeated Cara incredulously. “All that way to the Wizard’s Keep, the greatest source of knowledge in the New World, and you found nothing.”

Zedd nodded wearily, still tired from his long journey. “I’m sorry, my child. I do not know what it is that ails you.”

Cara felt anger rising within her. She’d never been one to complain about the world’s injustice to her, but this was something else entirely. She turned to Richard. “That sword of yours cuts through anything,” she stated.

He nodded. Neither of them looked at Kahlan.

****

“You can’t let them do this,” she cried out. “Zedd, stop them!”

The Wizard stood aside, expression somber, hands buried in his robes. “Kahlan, this is Cara’s decision,” he replied slowly, gently.

She couldn’t explain why she felt such panic, such desperation. Cara’s wings were unnatural, a strange and new part of her, and it made sense for her to want them gone. But not like this. Kahlan’s jaw clenched so tight it hurt as she made herself look at Cara, at Richard beside her. The blonde’s wings were stretched out wide behind her as she waited, and Richard’s sword was in both his hands as he sighted out his strike.

“Richard,” she called anxiously. “Wait. Stop, please!”

“This is what she wants, Kahlan,” he said tightly.

He raised his sword, shining bright above him. Kahlan lunged forward, bare hands reaching for the naked blade. Zedd shouted a warning, but they were both too late. The Sword of Truth fell, smoothly lopping off her wings like they were made of silk. They fell heavily to the ground and Cara fell to her knees, head thrown back in anguish. She didn’t make a sound or shed a tear, so Kahlan screamed for her until her throat was raw. Deep red blood trickled from the twin stumps on her back.

Zedd’s hand came to her shoulder as she glared at Richard. “I hope they grow back,” she said, voice ragged. “I’m sorry, Cara, but I do.”

****

Cara was beginning to wonder if the entire thing was somehow Kahlan’s fault. How else could she have known they would come back? She was fairly certain Confessor powers and wings were unrelated, but she’d been wrong before. Not that she would ever admit it.

Regardless, several days later, they were indeed back in their widespread glory. Zedd was baffled, Richard was quiet, and Kahlan was subtly triumphant. The latter two were just getting back to speaking terms. Of all the things to threaten the storied love between the Seeker and Confessor, Cara never expected her wings to be the breaking point.

“Are they really so bad?” Kahlan asked her.

“They’re heavy in battle,” explained Cara. “I can’t protect Richard if I’m weighted down like this.” She shrugged her shoulders, shifting her wings a bit under her cloak.

“Wings aren’t supposed to weigh things down,” the brunette offered. “If they are, you’re using them wrong.”

Cara’s eyes shifted to the side. It was a good point.

****

“Don’t ask me to cut them off again,” Richard said to her, late one night by their campfire. “So help me, I will if you want me to, but I’m asking you not to.”

“I won’t,” replied Cara, after a moment spent staring at yellow flames. “Kahlan would cry herself dry and likely never speak to either of us ever again.”

Richard offered a feeble laugh, but they both knew the jest carried a little too much truth. “So what are you going to do?” he queried, poking at the embers with a stick. “It’s a big change to get used to. I…don’t know what I would do.”

Cara sighed. “Hope this runs its course. But that would require the Wizard be right for once,” she added, glaring at the sleeping form.

****

It didn’t take long for Kahlan to notice that Cara was disappearing in the evenings. It was nothing strictly new; the Mord-Sith went hunting alone often enough and she made no secret of her general appreciation of privacy. Yet she hadn’t brought game back these last few nights.

When she limped into camp, calling through gritted teeth for the Wizard, it was immediately obvious that Kahlan’s suspicions were correct. Either that or she’d wrestled a Shadrin and lost. Her left arm was twisted all wrong, clearly broken, and she was favoring her leg so much Kahlan wondered how she’d made it back alone. It was then she noticed the blonde’s wings beating down on every step, helping her walk.

It was one of the more measurable benefits of having a Wizard of the First Order in your traveling party, alongside never having to find tinder and flint for fire. Numerous wounds healed, Cara took a slow seat beside her, accepting the small bowl of meat Kahlan offered. The Mord-Sith didn’t endure their wondering and curious glances for long. “Flying is hard,” she offered lamely, breaking the silence.

Zedd nodded sagely, as if the words represented the answer to every question ever asked.

Kahlan smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re alright,” she said.

****

She was ready, Cara told herself. Still, it was a hard thing, poking and prodding at Kahlan’s shoulder until she woke. “Cara?” the Confessor questioned her, voice thick from sleep. “What is it?”

“Come on. I have something to show you.”

****

The short walk to the moonlit grove provided enough time for Kahlan to wake completely. Still, she was tired, so when Cara told her to attack her she nearly declined. Curiosity winning over lethargy, she knelt and drew her daggers, then lunged at Cara.

With a sharp gust from spread wings, Cara was beside her in a blink, moving far quicker than Kahlan had ever seen. Kahlan’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she tried again. Cara grinned this time, and their game began. It was horribly unfair, Kahlan soon realized. Cara had taken to her advice from earlier; her wings helped her movements instead of burdening them. She tucked them close to turn or spin, spreading them to give her a short burst forward or propel her back. It wasn’t long before Kahlan was breathless from exertion—it was like fighting a ghost, and the countless sharp bites of pain from Cara’s Agiels were more than frustrating.

“Alright,” she forced out, flipping her daggers in her palms and holding them up by the blades. “You win.”

Cara’s wings flexed wide as she smirked. “I can protect the Lord Rahl better, now,” she said proudly.

Kahlan nodded slowly, hesitated. “They seem…powerful,” she offered. “Very strong.”

Cara nodded, and there was a strange look in her eyes, like a call that Kahlan couldn’t help but answer. Still breathing heavy, she stepped to Cara and looked at her wings, her expression a question. Cara looked her up and down, as if sizing up her height and weight, and nodded silently, once.

Before she could change her mind, Kahlan closed what little distance remained between them, throwing her arms around Cara’s neck.

“Hold on tight,” Cara murmured in her ear.

Kahlan shuffled her legs closer to Cara. “Okay,” she breathed out.

Eyes squeezed tightly shut, she felt Cara’s body tense, felt the stirring of air as her massive wings began to beat. She yelped as her feet left the ground, promptly wrapping her legs around Cara’s waist, clinging to her. Cara’s wings lifted them with powerful strokes and strange ease as her own arms closed around Kahlan’s back. Heart hammering in her chest, Kahlan suddenly hoped they were only a couple feet off the ground.

“Are your eyes closed?” Cara asked her suddenly, wings settling into a steady rhythm.

“Yes,” admitted Kahlan, squeezing them that much more tightly so.

“You should open them.”

Quickly working up the courage, Kahlan peeked hesitantly over Cara’s shoulder. “Oh, Spirits,” she groaned, tightening her hold on Cara’s body. They were already very far away from the ground. “Cara please don’t drop me.”

“I won’t,” the blonde promised. Kahlan thought she detected the smallest hint of insecurity in her voice, then. “What do you think?”

Kahlan swallowed hard, trying to assure her own body that its death wasn’t imminent. Only then did she notice what a sight offered itself between Cara’s working wings. A sky full of stars, a moon that looked larger than life, and a vast, dark forest spread out below her like a picture on a map. She could see a river shining in the distance, feeding a great lake, and the mountains beyond.

“Oh,” Kahlan said, her voice so quiet she wasn’t sure Cara could hear it over the rushing air. “Oh, Cara.”

****

They settled high up on a cliffside, a place Cara took great pleasure in realizing couldn’t be reached without a pair of wings. She would never admit it but carrying twice its usual weight was wearing on her back, and she breathed a sigh of relief as her feet found solid ground. Her wings folded heavily behind her. Kahlan nearly had to be pried free of her, so tightly was she wrapped around Cara.

But she found the Mother Confessor smiling, almost giddy with childlike enjoyment. “That was amazing,” she said, looking ready to burst into laughter for no good reason. “What was it like, your first time?”

Cara looked out across the vista, trying to see it as Kahlan did. “Painful,” she answered. Kahlan did giggle, then, and Cara barely hid her own smile. “But then it was…nice, I suppose. It’s very freeing. I’ll be able to scout leagues ahead to keep the Lord Rahl safe if needed,” she added.

Kahlan nodded slowly. Her expression became somber, less a child and more a woman, though there was a different quality there, something Cara didn’t recognize in her. Her eyes flicked from place to place on Cara’s body; her wings, her eyes, her breasts, her legs. She made to speak, and hesitated. “I don’t know why,” she said at length, softly. “I don’t know how I never noticed before.”

Cara regarded her carefully. “Never noticed what?”

Kahlan nearly looked scared as she lifted her hands, cupping Cara’s face in her palms as if to shut out everything else in the world. “How beautiful you are,” she said, her voice low, thick with something Cara did recognize. “Spirits help me…”

Kahlan kissed her, then, an aggressive press of lips that Cara almost struggled to meet. But she did, with every bit of herself that she could muster. She had no intention of squandering this particular gift.

****

Cara’s body was strikingly perfect. She was on full display as she settled over Kahlan, freshly bared skin shining with sweat, breasts heaving in straining moonlight and wings spread out wide. It was a different language Kahlan was trying to speak with fumbling hands and heavy breaths, the only one she knew Cara would understand; that would let Kahlan tell her just what she was feeling. She nestled her nose to Cara’s neck, kissing her throat as the blonde leaned down. “I love him,” Kahlan forced out suddenly, her lips brushing Cara’s skin as she spoke. “Even though he did that to you.” Cara didn’t even pause.

“Of course,” she murmured in reply. “But there’s that small matter of you finding me so very beautiful.”

Kahlan ground her teeth and Cara devoured her frustration in her kiss, taking it for her own. She let herself become lost, then, in blonde hair and strong muscles and the scent of her, filling her senses to overflowing. Following Cara’s lead, she was taken aback to find the Mord-Sith soon shuddering out her release against her hand, neck arched back, wings stretched out above them and quaking, then beating down and folding as Cara’s body relaxed. Her own climax ebbed enough to appreciate the raw beauty of the experience, and her hand bravely reached out to stroke the soft edge of Cara’s wing. “Do you feel that?” she asked softly.

“Yes,” answered Cara.

“That’s because they’re a part of you.”

Cara buried her face in Kahlan’s neck and kissed her there, a feeble attempt to hide whatever emotion would’ve been displayed in her features. Kahlan found the distraction working as Cara’s expertise brought her body back to its former sharp point, back to the danger that Cara loved.

****

Kahlan’s corset was poor defense against the chilled wind. She stood, meaning to dress herself, but the view from the cliff stole her for a moment, picturesque as it was. She wondered if they were the first people to ever see it. Cara took the opportunity to come to her back and Kahlan let herself be gently turned to face her by a hand on her shoulder. Cara’s expression was inquisitive; Kahlan offered a reassuring smile. A shudder ran through her body from the cold then, and Cara’s brow furrowed. Pulling Kahlan closer to her naked form, her massive wings spread wide before curling forward to envelope her in warmth, closing around Kahlan’s back to shelter her. Kahlan’s eyes closed at the feeling as she pressed herself to Cara’s body, surrounded by her; it was everything warm and soft and comfortable, like she’d always imagined waking up wrapped in bedclothes with a lover would feel like.

“Get dressed and we’ll go flying,” suggested Cara. “If you want. It’ll help me build up strength.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever say no when you ask me that,” Kahlan promised.


End file.
